l i fewww.mcch.org.uk Winter 2014

Easy Read Newsletter

This newsletter is easy read

2 l i fe

WelcomeIt is great to win awards.

We have been nominated for 2 awards.

Award nominations

Our Carlton Centre team won an award.

They won the award at the Great British Care Awards.

Our mental health specialists came 2nd in the 3rd Sector Care Awards.

Well done to the Carlton team and the mental health specialists.

Allan Finn also won an award. Allan Helps mcch with the Jigsaw Project.

Jigsaw tries to stop hate crimes against people with learning disabilities and autism.

Staff get an award

We had an event for mcch staff and volunteers.

We gave them awards.

Well done to all the winners.

3Winter 2014

People can workLord Freud said people with disabilities are not worth paying the minimum wage.

This is something that we do not agree with.

We have 10 enterprises.

They help people to find a job.

They help people to learn work skills.

There are paid roles in the enterprises.

People in these roles get paid at least the national minimum wage.

Lord Freud said sorry for his comments.

4 l i fe

Tuck by Truck’s big tidy upTuck by Truck helped to clean up their local area.

They did this to say thank you to the Kent County Council Community Wardens.

The wardens helped them to find jobs.

They also arranged a Community Safety Day for Tuck by Truck.

This included talks from the Community Wardens and Fire Brigade.

The talks were about how to stay safe at home and when out and about.

5Winter 2014

Bexley fun dayWe had a fun day.

People tried new activities.

People could try:

Taekwondo

Bollywood dancing

Cossack dancing

and lots of other fun activities.

6 l i fe

What is a tenancy?A tenancy gives you rights and responsibilities.

There are lots of different tenancies.

A tenancy means that your landlord can not ask you to leave your home.

You can live in your home as long as you pay rent and follow the rules.

mcch housing handbook

We have made a new housing handbook. It is in all of our homes.

It has useful information about tenancies.

7Winter 2014

It tells you:

how to pay rent

how to tell someone something needs repairing

how to contact your housing officer.

Get involved and have your say

Do you live in a mcch property?

Tell us what we must do to make our property better.

Please contact Nicola Bowen for more information.

01622 722482

n.bowen@mcch.org.uk

learning disability | autism | mental health

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Get involved

l i fe8

Thank you for your supportTesco Extra opened a new store in Ashford.

They gave us £500 for our Live it Well Centre in Ashford.

Thank you Tesco.

A company spent a day tidying up our gardens.

The company is DSH chartered accountants and business advisors.

They did weeding and cut the hedges at our Live it Well Centre in Maidstone.

Thank you DSH.

9Winter 2014

Emma Cassley Fundraising Manager

2 people did the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 bike race.

Richard finished in 5 hours and 13 minutes.

John finished in 7 hours and 19 minutes.

They raised money to buy sensory equipment.

Thank you Richard and John.

Process Benchmarking gave us £850.

The money is for our Tuck by Truck enterprise in Bexley.

Thank you Process Benchmarking.

10 l i fe

Green fingersWe had a gardening competition.

There were 22 entries.

Everyone who entered got a free compost bin and some poppy seeds.

Chairman Ann Cooke, Vice-Chairman Philip Sayer and mcch staff decided who won.

Ken Boyce Centre were the winners.

They made a sensory garden.

11Winter 2014

Brian, Ben and Sam are Support Assistants working in Hastings.

They helped Darryl move into his own flat.

First they supported Darryl in his family home for 2 weeks.

This made it easier for him to move to his own flat.

Darryl’s parents were very happy with Brian, Ben and Sam.

Darryl’s parents said Brian, Ben and Sam were always professional, polite and respectful.

Brian, Ben and Sam won the Respect award at the 2014 mcch awards.

Marvellous support

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Are you looking for support? Call us free on 0800 028 28 15

facebook.com/mcchcharity

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mcch One Hermitage Court Hermitage Lane Maidstone Kent ME16 9NT

t. 01622 722400

f. 01622 722450 www.mcch.org.uk

mcch is a registered charity our number is 1156486